Crop yields down due to dry weather

An Iowa State University agronomist says the dry weather is having a good and bad impact on this year’s harvest. Dale Farnham says the lack of moisture is hurting yields — especially among soybeans.The yields are around 40-bushels-per-acre, which is a little lower than what was expected. He says corn yields are around 140-bushels-per-acre, also below what was expected. Farnham says the good news is the crops being harvested are much drier than normal.The moisture content of the grain is around 20 to 15-percent. Farnham says the low moisture means less money spent to dry the grain.Richard Porter of the Iowa Corn Growers Association says that western Iowa farmers are hardest-hit by the drought.Porter says fields that might have yielded 180 bushels of corn per acre in ideal conditions are instead yielding about 40 bushels less per acre.Fred Langguth of the Iowa Soybean Association is urging farmers not to over-till with plows and discs once they’ve harvested their crops.